Washington House passes supplemental budget plan

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - The House has passed a supplemental budget plan that puts more money toward teacher salaries, the final step in a multiyear process to bring Washington state into compliance with a state Supreme Court mandate on education.

The budget passed on a 54-44 vote and now heads to the Senate, which will vote on it as lawmakers start to wrap up their 60-day legislative session Thursday.

The plan makes several tweaks and adds more than $750 million in net spending to the current $43.7 billion two-year state budget that was adopted last summer. While the main focus in on education funding, the budget also allocates additional money into funding mental health, heath care, and higher education, among other areas.

Lawmakers are working to expedite a timeline on fully funding teacher salaries as they try to satisfy a 2012 ruling that found that K-12 school funding was not adequate.

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